 With forward pay from Appalachian Wireless, you'll avoid contracts and credit checks while taking advantage of some awesome perks like unlimited talk, text and 3 gigs of data for just $44.99 or with 5 gigs for a mere $59.99. Forward pay, that's today's Appalachian Wireless. Earlier this week, the Pikeville City Commission announced the creation of Pikeville's Office of Economic Development, which will be located on Hambly Boulevard in the old train depot building. City Manager Donovan Blackburn says it's time for Pikeville to take more aggressive steps to bring more jobs into the region. The biggest task that this commission of the city has is to create jobs. Obviously in the current economic conditions with the coal industry down the way that it is, we've got to find ways to continue to move Pikeville and Candle Eastern Kentucky forward. There will be several offices in the building, including the Office of City Manager and the Director of Economic Development, a position former Assistant City Manager Sean Conkren was just named to. Blackburn explained there will also be a satellite office for one East Kentucky with the goal of having economic development-minded people in one place. But the thought is it's bringing everybody together under one roof whose job every day is to wake up and think about how we can create jobs and how we can create innovation and entrepreneurship. And with the bridge construction well underway leading to the new Marion's Branch Industrial Park, the main goal now is bringing in new business. We've got 400 acres of developable property for people to locate. We've got extra sewer capacity, water capacity. We've got broadband coming. I mean all the different things that industry is looking for. And it looks like their hard work is already paying off. At the last commission meeting we just announced going forward with the adding tens with seven peaks for the new copper sulfate plants. So they're going to be up there in the next couple of weeks doing their drilling, core drilling. Had past administrations and city commissions not planned for the future, Blackburn says he hates to think about the shape Pikeville would be in today. We have not done, had that vision 13 years ago the question is where would we be today with the coal economy where it's at. You know right now Eastern Kentucky has to pull together. It's no longer boundaries, it's no longer them, it's us. Crews have already begun renovating the building and Blackburn says he hopes to officially open the new office of economic development by the end of the year. Reporting in Pikeville for EKB news, I'm Shannon Deskins.